#1 - Offer $18 million per year to Josh Smith. Yeah, he has weaknesses, but he's one of the best defenders at the 4 in the league. With him and Drummond anchoring the paint, it locks up the team's interior defense.
#2 - Assuming #1 happens, work to swing a trade with San Antonio, essentially Greg Monroe for Kawhi Leonard. A good three is hard to find in this league, especially one that can both hit the three and play defense. I'd ask for a first, but not expect it (bid low, after all), and offer up Singler and/or Jerebko in addition if necessary. I wanted to do this a few months ago; it's going to be harder now and San Antonion would get more out of Leonard, but I still think it's worth it.
#3 - Sign Andray Blatche ($6 million) and Kyle Korver ($7 million).
#4 - Trade Stuckey for a 2nd. Anyone, please?
#5 - Amnesty Villanueva
#6 - Draft McCollum (ideally), or Carter-Williams. ($2.3 million)
#7 - Resign Calderon for $9 million.
#8 - McMillan as coach

With an assumed salary cap of $58 million, this fills it. The squad next year would look like:

Honestly, none of these senarios feels unrealistic. How many teams in the league would choose Leonard over Monroe? I think most people would say the Spurs is getting the better end of the deal.

We "only" have to outbid everyone else on Josh Smith. I don't believe anyone will give him the max... but you never know.
If that falls trough, Paul Millsap could be a good substitute to Josh Smith. He's solid on defense/rebounding and can score in many differeny ways.

#1 - Offer $18 million per year to Josh Smith. Yeah, he has weaknesses, but he's one of the best defenders at the 4 in the league. With him and Drummond anchoring the paint, it locks up the team's interior defense.
#2 - Assuming #1 happens, work to swing a trade with San Antonio, essentially Greg Monroe for Kawhi Leonard. A good three is hard to find in this league, especially one that can both hit the three and play defense. I'd ask for a first, but not expect it (bid low, after all), and offer up Singler and/or Jerebko in addition if necessary. I wanted to do this a few months ago; it's going to be harder now and San Antonion would get more out of Leonard, but I still think it's worth it.
#3 - Sign Andray Blatche ($6 million) and Kyle Korver ($7 million).
#4 - Trade Stuckey for a 2nd. Anyone, please?
#5 - Amnesty Villanueva
#6 - Draft McCollum (ideally), or Carter-Williams. ($2.3 million)
#7 - Resign Calderon for $9 million.
#8 - McMillan as coach

With an assumed salary cap of $58 million, this fills it. The squad next year would look like:

I think this is a playoff team with good depth, and I think it's reasonable to achieve.

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So now you must be posting on the sauce too.....
#1. Korver ain't that good and he's 32 years old.
#2. Kawhi Leonard is good because he's in a GREAT system with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.
#3. No way that team makes the playoffs.

So I've been thinking....How do we get Danny Granger, the Pacers have no choice but to let him go. I honestly think that anyone in this draft that can help us on the perimeter will be gone by #8 and we'll be choosing between Shabazz and Bennett. Bennett is OK but he doesn't fill a need for us, but he does for the Pacers......he becomes their PF of the future and fits in VERY well with that team.
If Bennett is available at #8 I say we offer him to the Pacers for Danny Granger IF they take Rodney Stuckey back in a trade.
Assuming a salary cap of $58M, that transaction will leave us with roughly $16.3M in cap space. And this Roster:
PG: Knight / ???
SG: Singler / English
SF: Granger / Middleton
PF: Monroe / BoT / JJ
C: Drummond / TRG

This also gives us flexibility for the future too because the FA's are only on 4 year contracts so we'll onlu have to pay the luxury tax in the first year of Drummonds new contract and then the Free Agents will begin to fall of the books but by then GM and Drummond should be pretty dominant in their own rights.

Agreed. I personally witnessed tall pasty white guys neutralize Leonard at a BYU home game the year before he went pro. I would not in a million years trade Monroe for him. Especially not straight up.

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So because he thrashed by some guys as a freshman in college, he sucks now? Grudge holding, perhaps?

Leonard was 13th in the league in steals last year. The list of SFs that had more steals per game includes:
Paul George

He also had the 12th highest defensive rating. The list of SFs that had a higher defensive rating than him last year includes:
Paul George

He shot a little over 37% from 3s last year, which isn't mind-blowing but is better than advertised. The Pistons last year that had a higher 3p% than him includes:
Jose Calderon
Andre Drummond

His offensive rating and his defensive rating are both better than anything Monroe's put up. He's a better shooter, a better defender, and protects the ball better. San Antonio was better both offensively and defensively when he was on the court.

Monroe, for all he does well, is a surprisingly inefficient shooter, especially from close range. How does he score so many points? He takes a lot of shots. Why does he take a lot of shots? Because he feels the team doesn't really have any better options. Look at his shot chart: NBA Stats

His alleged benefit is what he brings offensively, and the Pistons were better offensively when he was off the court last year. Is he terrible? No. Part of the issue was that he was adjusting to a new role last year, and we all know that's going to take time. I'm not saying that he's a bad player; Monroe has his advantages, and if it weren't for Smith, I'd keep him. The problem is that I want a team with a defensive identity, and Monroe doesn't fit that. Leonard and Smith do.

And as far as Korver, Calderon and Korver are two of the best three-point-shooters in the league. Put them and Leonard on the court at once, with Smith and Drummond setting screens and cutting off the ball, and you have a team with a potentially devastating inside-out game (the three combined to go 305/686 on threes last year - 44.5%). If the Pistons got 40% from their wings and 60+% from the bigs (Leonard was the only one that did not exceed those numbers last year, and only barely), and they're looking at 120 points per 100 possessions. Throw in a defense that should be able to perform quite well inside and that can match up well with at least one guy on the perimeter, you're looking at a damn good team.

Bennett could be a nice piece for this team. He does look a lot like Rodney Rogers, with maybe better feet on the perimeter. He's not ideal though.

I think that Shabazz may be one of those players who has been picked apart. I re-watched one of his games last night (couldn't sleep), and it looks like he's forcing things. He played like a guy who is trying to prove that he's the #1 pick in the draft. It's as if he's trying to get 25+ points regardless of the win. I think that if he had just played basketball this season, instead of playing for draft status, he might have been a top 5 pick. He does have flaws, but he also has some nice skills. Reminds me of a poor man's Michael Finley. Finley went at pick #21, but this draft sucks.

KGREG, if CJ isn't available, then I would definitely consider the Granger deal. I think Indy would too. The problem? Granger is 30 years old, and I'm not sure if his knee is ever going to recover. He used to be an explosive small forward. Will he be again?

I'm coming around to the idea of signing David West. This team got pushed around last year, and David West seems to be one of those guys that people around the league just don't want to f*ck with. We could bring GM off of the bench for 33 mpg. I would look strongly at Brandon Wright or Cole Aldrich on the cheap, as back up centers.

Ideally, we'd pick up CJ, and sign Iggy. Iggy, Singler, Middleton, BK, and CJ is a nice perimeter group. All that we would need then is another guard for 18-20 minutes a night.

If Iggy doesn't work out, then Dorrell Wright is a nice option. I would probably prefer Wright to any of the FA SGs.

So I've been thinking....How do we get Danny Granger, the Pacers have no choice but to let him go..

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I don't understand... the Pacers are under the cap by $10 million and he's signed through next year. I mean, I know I get confused talking about them because the Pacers feel like they have a bunch of guys with the same name (Paul George, George Hill, Danny Granger, Gerald Green... argh) but why would the Pacers have no choice but to let him go?

I don't understand... the Pacers are under the cap by $10 million and he's signed through next year. I mean, I know I get confused talking about them because the Pacers feel like they have a bunch of guys with the same name (Paul George, George Hill, Danny Granger, Gerald Green... argh) but why would the Pacers have no choice but to let him go?

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They are $10M under the cap this summer (2013), but David West, Tyler Hanbrough and DJ Augustine are free agents. Do they let West walk? I don't think so and even if he took a $2-$3M paycut they still need to re-sign Augustine and Hansbrough or guys similar to them.

That move will have them right at or above the soft cap for the 2013-2014 season, George's 4th season and the final year of his rookie contract as well as Lance Stephenson's (who makes less than $1M/yr).

In the summer of 2014 they will have about $27M in wiggle room before they reach the luxury threshold with three players to sign: Granger, George and Stephenson.
Paul George will command $12M/yr, Stephenson will get something to the tune of $7M/yr, that leaves $8M/yr for Danny Granger and this is his LAST contract, can you really ink a guy like Danny Granger for $8M/yr? Now he he might bite because Indy can offer him a 5th year, but will they do that when he's 30 years old? And even then it's only a $40M contract.

In short they are going to lose him in free agency next summer because they are going to pay the young guys, Stephenson and Paul George.

So because he thrashed by some guys as a freshman in college, he sucks now? Grudge holding, perhaps?

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Don't make me laugh. I rooted for all the Mountain West guys who went to the NBA. Just forgive me if I can't take a guy seriously as good trade value for our highest-producing player when I can remember him being guardable by the likes of James Anderson, Noah Hartsock, and Stephen Rogers.

KGREG, if CJ isn't available, then I would definitely consider the Granger deal. I think Indy would too. The problem? Granger is 30 years old, and I'm not sure if his knee is ever going to recover. He used to be an explosive small forward. Will he be again?

But I would for $12.5M, maybe even up to $14.5M
My Logic: $25M in cap space, cut BoT and Stuckey, now we have $37.5M
Sign Iggy and Josh Smith - 4 years @ $13.5M/yr for each one.
That leaves $10M to sign the #8 pick (CJ or Muhammed), our two 2nd Rounders and Calderon.

Don't make me laugh. I rooted for all the Mountain West guys who went to the NBA. Just forgive me if I can't take a guy seriously as good trade value for our highest-producing player when I can remember him being guardable by the likes of James Anderson, Noah Hartsock, and Stephen Rogers.

Don't make me laugh. I rooted for all the Mountain West guys who went to the NBA. Just forgive me if I can't take a guy seriously as good trade value for our highest-producing player when I can remember him being guardable by the likes of James Anderson, Noah Hartsock, and Stephen Rogers.

They are $10M under the cap this summer (2013), but David West, Tyler Hanbrough and DJ Augustine are free agents. Do they let West walk? I don't think so and even if he took a $2-$3M paycut they still need to re-sign Augustine and Hansbrough or guys similar to them.

That move will have them right at or above the soft cap for the 2013-2014 season, George's 4th season and the final year of his rookie contract as well as Lance Stephenson's (who makes less than $1M/yr).

In the summer of 2014 they will have about $27M in wiggle room before they reach the luxury threshold with three players to sign: Granger, George and Stephenson.
Paul George will command $12M/yr, Stephenson will get something to the tune of $7M/yr, that leaves $8M/yr for Danny Granger and this is his LAST contract, can you really ink a guy like Danny Granger for $8M/yr? Now he he might bite because Indy can offer him a 5th year, but will they do that when he's 30 years old? And even then it's only a $40M contract.

In short they are going to lose him in free agency next summer because they are going to pay the young guys, Stephenson and Paul George.

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Okay then, that makes sense. Sounds okay to me, but you think Indiana would trade in-division with a team that would immensely benefit from that trade?